Louisiana

plantation's secrets -
humid night stops myrtles' clocks
for timeless complaint
(5-10)



 
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slapping th’standup bass –
even th’steamiest monday
‘t th’canal street station
(1-18)








th’atchafalaya –
t’most folks, hostile ‘n’ suff’cating,
‘t’s where he wants t’spend th’fourth
(11-17)







room ‘n th’garden district
her thoughts hang ‘n sultry silence
even th’fan slows down
(10-16)




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she asks why he’s here –
‘n th’back room, house on josephine –
th’fan can’t move in th’heat
(11-17)

on th’road t’amelia –
th’bayou law ‘n th’steamy towns, ‘t’s all
‘bout th’private prisons
 (11-17)





bourbon’s best buskers –
steamy night, lively zyd’co,
c.d.? they just laugh
(12-15)



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sicily island –
shells peas ‘n’ snaps beans on th’porch, ‘n’ yells,
‘dust comin’ down th’road!’
(11-17)













shreveport diner grits,
butter and honey, sunrise
to fry an egg with
(9-08)





from th’garden district
window, th’days get more sultry –
inside, th’fan slows down
(5-15)







back t’new iberia –
barbecue, gumbo, ‘n’ crawfish,
‘n’ th’feuds with th’author’ties
(4-17)






downpour ‘n storyville –
can’t believe ‘nother summer
drinking th’hurricanes
(2-17)







tales ‘f old storyville,
august rains, red lights – she pours
‘nother hurricane
(6-15)






th’guy can pay up front,
she says, ‘r in all th’other ways –
wind ‘n’ rain pound canal
(6-15)








soft jazz on th’radio,
out ‘n basin street, th’edge ‘f th’hurr’cane-
she goes back to sleep
(6-15)







grew up ‘n new orleans –
drink right through th’rainy season,
‘n’ she’ll feel right at home
(6-17)






dressed up for th’big rains –
n’orleans hurricane party,
‘r die ‘n her best undies
(9-17)








family’s portrait,
broken, faded - th’hot sun hits
th’debris ‘f th’old ninth ward
(8-15)






mamou fiddler’s tale –
festival ‘f cajun culture,
gotta taste th’boudin
(10-16)



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haunting french lyrics –
th’mamou fiddler’s melodies
stuck with him for weeks
(9-17)









m’tairie lass’ garden –
snapdragons last into th’fall,
makes th’neighbors jealous
(2-17)







marie laval's name -
calls on voodoo, but too late -
betting on the saints
(10-14)







th’name ‘f marie laval –
she hopes it buys th’saints some luck,
at least th’extra point
(7-17)






in th’absence of real food,
th’basin street buskers pass th’port
‘n’ share th’bag ‘f candy corns
(11-16)







ma raised her cath'lic,
he worshipped n'orleans football -
they married saints' day
(3-14)








diesel fumes hang ‘n th’air –
stopped ‘n metairie on souls’ day,
he hears his grandma’s grace
(10-16)







trucker's souls' day prayer
for those who're caught between worlds
rest stop, baton rouge
(11-14)










'laska to florida,
traffic thins, ten near m'tairie -
time f'r thanksgiving nap
(6-13)

















not much work ‘n t’llulah –
gets by with what th’wife brings home,
spec’ly when it’s cold
(2-17)



 



docked off ‘f burma road –
th’fisherman knows ‘bout ‘fall back,’
wants t’spend th’hour on th’boat
(11-17)








cameron parish –
even th’beach seems cold ‘n’ dark,
since he chose t’come out
(11-17)








just off basin street,
busker's night ends - frigid dawn,
old cemetery
(10-14)











stone's throw from n'orleans -
crawdad gumbo, zydeco,
'r own kind of christmas
(12-11)








playing the 'bon temps' -
fiddler gets a little french,
gumbo t'fight the cold
(12-13)








buskers hide bottles,
illicit french quarter port -
champagne soon enough
(5-10)



























canal t’esplanade –

on this night, wolf moon’s stronger

than all th’clubs combined

(5-15)








super bowl, shreveport –
th’party, he figures, ‘s where there
might be something t’eat
(2-18)










in th’back seat, king’s cake –
had t’make one for work, she says,
got th’baby in th’last one
(2-16)










purple, yellow, green –
every morn th’bloody mary,
‘n’ king cake by uber
(7-17)








vagrancy's a crime
'f'you'll get on out of n'o'l'ans
save jail cells for gras
(8-05)







vagrancy, says th’clerk –
hanging ‘round b’fore mardi gras
nothin’ better t’do
(10-16)








police ‘t ponchartrain –
his real crime, barefoot ‘n winter,
not knowing t’say “sir”
(5-16)







days b’fore carnival,
n’orleans policeman’s feeling
insecure, pow’rful
(8-16)







harsh words f’r th’yankee kid –
n’orleans police are angry
‘bout mardi gras too
(6-16)






on th’bus t’baton rouge –
with th’cold rain, ‘n’ people watching,
it’s best just t’leave town
(5-16)




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few too many drugs,
some unheard of ‘n bourbon street –
now he’ll miss th’big day
(1-18)






bourbon street fiddler's
yankee accent fades away -
parade approaches
(8-05)






crowds ‘long th’parade route –
cold ‘n th’north, but here ‘n th’french quarter,
th’temperature’s rising
(1-18)








curbside, mardi gras –
he tells how he’s given up,
plans t’get arrested
(10-16)

tourists in n'orleans
gave mardi gras to the world -
we flee t'lafayette
(9-08)






refuge ‘n lafayette –
just feels like ‘t carnival,
gave their city t’ th’world
(6-17)






little rough with th’guy –
police threw’m ‘n th’van, day b'fore gras,
had ‘n open bottle
(12-15)










fierce joy of th’moment –
congo square observer says
it’s all in th’costume
(1-16)






ten up t’maurepas,
march sky ‘n’ th’rising lake – is th’road
built on something real?
(11-17)






morganza spillway:
give the river what it wants -
atchafalaya
(5-11)






waiting to give blood,
on a seedy n'orleans stoop -
magnolias blooming
(9-08)







wealth of aromas –
bushes bloom on th’n’orleans streets,
alas, th’blood bank’s closed
(9-16)





magnolias blooming –
french quarter law’s pounded th’kid
crime’s th’open bottle
(2-17)







mad ‘bout th’monuments –
magnolias blooming ‘n’ he spits,
n’orleans just ain’t th’same
(7-17)







broke up his dance ‘f joy,
shoved him in th’van – off bourbon,
fragrant spring ev’ning
(2-17)







wild weekend ‘f drinking,
danced ‘n’ sung by th’swollen river –
now it’s back t’shreveport
(2-17)





parish bingo hall -
she bristles at the comment:
'skimpy' easter dress
(12-13)








wisteria blooming -
cajun voice reaches quarter's
parisian tourists
(10-14)




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th’old kind ‘f french’s haunting –
wisteria ‘n th’streets ‘f gentilly,
‘n’ he asks ‘f she’s still ‘round(11-17)






kudzu envelops
spirit, blocks april sunshine -
far from ponchartrain
(9-08)







cam’ron parish beach –
wide ‘n’ sparkling, but th’joy ‘f spring, gone,
guess she knows too much
(5-15)








ten west t'ward texas -
"wisht i'd traveled when i's young" -
wildflowers beckon
(5-10)






ten west t’ward th’wildflow’rs –
th’freedom looks good, say th’two young
gay kids from lake charles
(11-16)


e pluribus haiku